biology essay

Organic and inorganic mineral fertilizers

Published: 23, March 2015

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Review of Literature

Integrated nutrient supply of organic and inorganic sources is of great importance for maintaining of productivity. The basic concept underlying the principle of IPNM is the maintance and improvement in soil fertility for sustained enhanced crop productivity through optimizing all possible sources of plant nutrients. The major possible sources of organic manures are farmyard manure and crop residues green manure etc. Farmyard manure is the best organic source but its quantity is limited because of burning of dung as fuel and reduction of farm animals with introduction of mechanical farming, so it is important to use both sources in conjunction to overcome the problem of soil health, sustainability, high price of chemical fertilizers etc.The sole N application through mineral fertilizer may not fullfil the immediate requirement of the plants,To over come this problem Integrated plant nutritional sydtem was introduced which includes combine use of organic and inorganic sources of N to maintain soil fertility and to increase crop productivity. IPNS has a synergistic effects with fertilizer and also

Make them more efficient. It also improve soil [hysical chemical and biological properties and thereby help in making highly productiveand sustainable(Rajendra et al.,1998, Ahmad et al., 2002) Although chemical fertilizers have been a significant source of readily available N, However ever increasing high costand high energy consumption are making the system unsustainable.Further N fertilizer application is subjected to different losses that affect fertilizer use efficiency.It is also repoted that utilization of N in Pakistan varies from 50-60%in upland crops.whereas N fertilizer use efficiency in rainfed agriculture is even less Ahmad et al., 2002) Therefore need for searching alternative souces of N become imperative.

Plant Growth , Grain Yield and soil health

The beneficial effect of combined use of organic and inorganic fertilizers is well established Organic manures not only increase nitrifying activities of micro-orgranisms and also reduce N losses by increasing CEC of soil (Gasser,1964) The addition of plant litter/leaves can improve the structure,permeability,and stability of soil(walsh and Voigt,1977).Green manuring maintain and improve soil structure by addition of organic matter and minimize N,P,K fixation in all types of soils(Repetto,1986,Gill et al., 1998).Guar, 1994. reported that application of organic material increase the ability of microorganisms to produce polysaccharides, which improve soil structure while humus enhance the utilization of fertilizer nutrients by plants and also decrease leaching losses by increasing water holding capacity of the soil.

In In Himalyas India, Integrated use of chemical fertilizers and farm yard manure enhanced the grain yields significantly for maize and wheat in comparison to use of chemical fertilizers, i.e., 100% NPK+lime .Based on five year moving average values, the application of 100% NP resulted in reduction of grain yield of maize and wheat crop by 67 and 19% respectively during 1994 to 1998 compared with 1973 to 1977 (Sharma and Subehia, 2003).Similarly During (2007),an increase from 83.9% to 108.7% in maize grain yield was recorded by integration nutrients at University of Arid Agriculture Rawalpindi ( Sial et al., 2007). Three times higher maize biomass was obtained when the crop was fertilized with compost along with NPK, than that produced by non treated plots Combined application of organic and inorganic fertilizer (60:90:60:05 kg NPK Zn ha-1 + 20 t FYM ha-1) significantly increased maize grain yield by 89% over the farmer practice (60-90-60-0 kg NPKZn ha-1) Bishnu et al., ( 2001).. Integrated use of organic and mineral fertilizer, i.e., 25 % N from FYM and 75 % from urea produced significantly higher wheat grain and straw yield than 0:100 and 50:50 combination of N from FYM and urea (Hassan et al., 1989). Thind et al., (2002)Jayne Mugwe,et al.,2009 found that organic manure and N increased the yields of maize and wheat significantly.Ashoka et al., 2009 observed that application of RDF + 25Kg ZnSo4+10Kg FeSo4+35Kg vermicompost significantly increased corn growth parameters viz,plant height, Total dry matter and yield. Similarly Ahmed et al .,(2002) reported that plant height and leaf area was significantly increased by combined use of organic and unorganic nitrogen in wheat.

Negassa, et al. (2001) also observed that the use of 5t compost ha-1 alone and integration with low rates of N, P fertilizers were economically best for maize production and 85 kg N ha-1 can be saved khalid. et.al. (2005) investigated that FYM + crop residues can substitute 50% NPK for wheat production and their residual effect was equivalent to 50 % of the recommended dose of NPK as chemical fertilizer on the yield of succeeding crop in rice-wheat cropping system. Integrated use of NPK with organic manure and effective micro-organism (EM) resulted in highest seed cotton yield, i.e., 2470 kg ha-1, while OM + EM + 1/2 NPK yielded statistically similar yield to that obtained with full dose of NPK fertilizer (Kaleem et al., 2005). Hadda et al. (2006) also observed that wheat grain yield was increased significantly with soil and nutrient management practice over the farmer practices under wheat-maize cropping system in rainfed sub-mountainous region of Punjab India. The increase in grain maize yield increase was 13% over farmer practice with 75% RDF+FYM 10 t ha-1. Ayoola and Adeniyan(2006} also recorded that Crop yields were statistically the same under NPK alone and NPK +
poultry manure but significantly higher than both poultry manure alone and control in both locations.

The result of Bogum et al. (2001) revealed that application of poultry manure alone or in combination with urea N significantly increased the plant height, number of tiller hill-1, panicle length, number of grain per panicle. The grain and straw yield increased significantly with different treatments and highest yield was obtained with application of 7.5 t ha-1 poultry manure. The NPK uptake was positively influenced by different treatments. Poultry manure was found best source of N and increased the organic matter content, N, P, K and CEC of post harvest soil. Thind, et al. (2002) conducted a long term field experiment in Punjab, India on different organic amendments and N rates on yield of maize and nutrient uptake. They observed after 23rd and 24th harvest of crop, organic manure and N increased the yield of maize and wheat significantly. The residual effect of organic manure on succeeding wheat yield was higher in FYM treated plots followed by dhincha, Moong, guar, cowpeas treated plots. Available N, P & K contents of soil were also increased in FYM treated plots. Organic manures also improved DTPA-Zn content of soil.

Availability of Mn, Zn and Cu was also increased with application of FYM (Venknatesh et al., 2004). Gondeb and Mazzar (2005) also reported that the application of organic mineral fertilizer increased available soil Zn content. Rupa et al. (2003) reported that the effect of added FYM was more evident on the Ox-Zn fraction and the percentage utilization of Zn by wheat was the maximum with the addition of FYM alone in comparison to other treatment combinations. Application of 7.5 mg Zn kg-1 soil showed the maximum increase in different fractions of soil Zn and significantly increased the Zn utilization by wheat as compared to other Zn levels. Ayten Karaca (2004) concluded from an incubation study for six month at Ankara University, Turkey that application of organic wastes increased DTPA-Extractable Zn.

Chaudhary et al. (2005) evaluated long term application of FYM on soil micronutrient status on wheat in Hisar, India and reported that application of FYM significantly increased DTPA extractable and total content of micronutrients at all depths. The time of application of FYM also affected the content of soil micronutrients. DTPA extractable and total content of micronutrients were higher when FYM was applied in winter as compared to summer. The DTPA-extractable soil Zn, Fe and Mn concentration increased from 0.41 to 1.08 mg kg-1, from 10.3 to 17.7 mg kg-1, respectively with increasing OM content, thus showing the importance of soil OM in micronutrients availability. Behera et al. (2008) observed higher DTPA-Zn concentration in soil when Zn was applied and reduced with increase in soil depth. Grain and stover yield of maize ranged from 1.10 to 2.43 t ha-1, and 1.22 to 2.46 t ha-1 respectively under different treatments. Sorbed Zn and Zn associated with organic matter contributed significantly toward Zn uptake by maize (Behera et al., 2008).

N and Zn Application and crop growth and yield

Liu-Hongxia, et al. (2004) concluded that maize yield increased from 83.9 to 108.7% with N and Zn fertilization. Plant height, ear length, number of grain per ear, 1000/- grain weight and the yield of maize per hectare increased with increasing the rates of N and Zn, SO4. Verma et al. (2005) evaluated the effect of N and Zn on growth, herbage yield, quality and nutrient uptake of fodder sorghum. The increase in herbage yield due to N application @ 120 kg ha-1 was 43.1% higher than control. The crop responded up to 5 kg Zn ha-1 which increased green herbage yield by 8.6% and dry fodder by 11.5% compared to non-Zinc treated plot.

Yadar et al., (2006) found N, FYM and Zn in integrated application best in term of crop yield, nutrient uptake, gross return, net return and benefit cost ratio as compared to their sole application and farmer practice. The yield of maize grain as well as Stover increased by 1.36, 1.52, 1.68 and 1.71 times respectively, under different treatments over farmers' practices. Latha, (2003) studied the effect of Zn enriched organic manure on K uptake and availability in a maize-sunflower cropping system. He stated that the uptake of K in maize and sunflower, and the availability of K in soil were significantly enhanced by Zn nutrition, proving the positives interaction between Zn and K. Application of 25 kg Zn SO4 ha-1 registered the highest K uptake in both crop.

Zn sorption Review

Imtiaz, et al (2006) reported that the soils with high cation exchange capacity (CEC), calcium carbonate, organic matter contents, and heavy texture adsorbed more zinc. The alkaline Pakistani soils adsorbed more Zn than English acidic soils. They found that sequential extraction of Zn in these soils showed that most of the Zn was hold in CaCO3 pool in alkaline soils, whereas in acidic soils adsorbed Zn was in exchangeable form. Soil organic matter is the main compliment that affects Zn adsorption near neutral pH, whereas Covelo; et al (2004) investigated that at acidic pH, the oxides are the main component that effects "Zn" adsorption, although to a much smaller extent than the organic matter near neutral condition. So soil pH is main soil factor that determine "Zn" adsorption than any other soil property.

Singhania et al., 1983 reported that most of added Zn remained in exchangeable form and the amount of chelated Zn increased with the time of decomposition. Available soil Zn was higher in soil treated with Zn enriched slurry than with any other material. Cu adsorption was more depressed by Zn than Zn adsorption by Cu. The coefficient behavior of Cu and Zn seems dependent on the percentage Ca (CO3)2 and to a lesser dirge on Cu and Zn organic matter complexes, free iron content and surface precipitation on oxides and carbonates (Mosquita.: et al., 2000).

Khan et al. ( ) observed that the difference in sorption of Cu between soils are attributed to the differences in chemical characteristics of the equation sorption constants was strongly correlated with soil properties, like silt content, organic carbon, and soils pH. The relation importance of organic matter and oxides on Cu adsorption decreased and increased, respectively, with increasing Cu concentration in solution. In all soils, Cu sorption increased with increasing soil pH, but the solution Cu concentration decreased with increasing seat pH. They also observed that the desorption of Cu decreased with increasing soil pH.

SOD Review

Pleskaya, et al (2004) reported that the activities of super-oxide dismutase (SOD), peroxides and catalase in leaves & roots of wheat plants grown in NO3 medium markedly increased and in leaves of N deficient plant the activity of SOD was decreased. The results of Wang, and Jin (2007) showed that the activity of SOD increased with Zn application in maize g leaves. Rahimizadh, et al (2007) also observed a significant difference in antioxidant enzymes concentration between control and micronutrient treatment. The SOD activity was increased at 48-89% level with Fe+Zn+Cu+Mn treatments.

Alguacil (2006), found that inoculation with exotic mycorrhizal fungi, compost addition and water regime had very significant effects on SOD and POX activities in shoots of J. oxycedrus. Drought significantly increased the POX and SOD activities in shoots of J. oxycedrus plants, except for POX activity in plants treated with compost. However, both plants inoculated with the mixture of exotic AM fungi and plants treated with compost reached values higher than non-inoculated and non-treated with compost plants, in both well-watered and drought-stress conditions.

Total SOD activity (tSOD) in Medicago truncatula leaf extracts increased 1.4-fold, from 6.7 to 9.20 units SOD mg protein-1, when the Zn supply in the nutrient solution was increased from 0 to 3 mM but increased only 1.1-fold (from 6.7 to 7.3 units SOD mg protein-1) when the Zn supply increased up to 5 mM (Millan, 2005).

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